From homemade matzo to succulent brisket, here's how to cook up your tastiest seder ever.
Homemade Matzos
This easy recipe, served at Wise Sons' Seder pop-up in San Francisco, is from Beauty's Bagel Shop in Oakland, CA.
Ingredients
About 2 3/4 cups flour, divided
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/3 cup olive oil
About 1/2 tsp. fine sea salt
Preparation
1. Set a pizza stone on an oven rack and heat oven to 500° for about 45 minutes (if you don't have a pizza stone, set a large baking sheet on a rack and heat until oven is hot).
2. Put 2 1/4 cups flour, kosher salt, and oil in a food processor. With motor running, slowly add 1/2 cup water. Dough will come together into a ball and should feel soft and supple; if it is sticky at all, add more flour, 1 tbsp. at a time.
3. Divide dough into 12 portions. Using a floured rolling pin, roll 1 portion at a time on a well-floured work surface into a round about 8 in. wide and just thin enough to see through. Lightly sprinkle with sea salt and press it in with your hands. Prick dough all over with a fork (this will prevent the dough from puffing up too much).
4. Flour a wooden peel or back of a baking sheet generously and transfer dough to it. Gently slide dough onto hot pizza stone. Bake until matzo is light golden and crisp on each side and a bit darker at the edges, turning once with a wide spatula, 2 to 3 minutes total. Transfer matzo to a cooling rack and make remaining matzos the same way.
5. Rebake any matzo that isn't crisp in the center, which may be the case if they baked on a baking sheet; put matzos on a rimmed baking sheet, reduce oven heat to 250°, and bake 15 to 25 minutes more.
Make ahead: Up to 2 days, stored airtight.
Safta's Mock Liver
"My grandmother (my safta, Hebrew for grandma) always made this mock liver because she felt it to be healthier than one made with liver and shmaltz (chicken fat)," says Evan Bloom of Wise Sons Jewish Delicatessen in San Francisco. The recipe is like a vegetable pâté, and Bloom and Wise Sons co-owner Leo Beckerman put it on the menu for Passover.
> Get the recipe
Horseradish Beet Sauce
This vibrant, shocking pink sauce, called maror, is served with matzo along with haroseth as part of the seder ceremony. It's also great with short ribs during the meal.
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Wise Sons' Gefilte Fish
As an answer to gefilte fish from a jar, which can be heavy and strong-flavored, Evan Bloom and Leo Beckerman of Wise Sons Jewish Delicatessen in San Francisco created this very fresh and mild-tasting homemade version for Passover. The gefilte fish have a texture like light matzo balls, and are served with a carrot applesauce. Wise Sons also serves their own fresh horseradish sauce, but we've opted to buy it.
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Matzo Ball Soup
Seder isn't complete without this feel-good classic.
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Chopped Endive Salad with Smoked Salmon
This light and refreshing salad is a great first-course dish for seder.
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Related: Simple Passover menu
